I'm looking into getting my first big bore and am leaning toward one of the 416's. Of the various 416's out there to choose from Rigby, Hoffman, Taylor, etc are any inherently more difficult to reload for, not counting brass availablity issues? I don't want to start with something that is difficult to reload. Might as well throw the 404 Jeffery in there too, it's still on my short list.

Thanks guys.

I only have one big bore, a 416 Rigby. Can't speak to other big bores but I do reload for my Rigby. Once you have brass it certainly is easy to reload and the brass lasts a long time.

ive got 2... a .416 rem m70 crf and a .416 taylor/enfield action custom.... i shoot remington factory 400 gr barnes banded solids, picked up 5 boxes loaded for less than $160... i also have 80 factory new brass... so im set for it... the .416 taylor will use .458 win mag brass necked down... ive got 40 rds proper headstamp, and lots of fire-formed nickle .458 win mag...the taylor shoots 350 gr cast at 2350 with no feeding problems... winchester is set to introduce a .416 rem in 1 on the new m70's slated for release, this year maybe... for around $1200...

my advice is to get a .458 lott, and reload it to whatever you want... .458 bullets, jacketed, can be had for under 25 cents

Hi Gray, Reloading big bores is really no different that reloading for your 30-06. The parts are just bigger. Just follow sound practices. None are harder to load than others.

Right now, the best value in 416 Brass is the Rigby by Hornady. The only issue I have with Hoffman and/or Taylor is that most of the big bullet mfgrs don't list data for them. The Rigby and Remington are pretty standard fair along with the Weatherby.

John

375 Ruger and a 458 Lott.
Get a Lott, you can load up to "Painful" and load all the way down to subsonic 458 WM with "Trailboss" It's the best gun going.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
my advice is to get a .458 lott, and reload it to whatever you want... .458 bullets, jacketed, can be had for under 25 cents

I agree 100%

In my opinion if you want to play around with a big bore with different loads and shoot smaller animals, rocks or whatever then you will be best served by either the 375 or 458 bore size. All to do with bullet availability.

If you want to load to shoot charging buffalo and obviously premium bullets then the 416 is the equal of the 375 and 458 bore size. But when it comes to playing around bullets 375 and 458 is where the action is.

One difficulty with .416 Rigby, if you wnat to crimp loads, is the tendency for the shoulder to buckle. I suspect that reason alone accounts for the extremely high price of Rigby brass. Unless you buy a special crimping die, the RCBS internal crimp approach won't let me crimp Hornady or NORMA brass. My older Federal nickel-plated brass will crimp just fine using my RCBS die.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Maybe I should look into the 375 instead. I don't see myself ever wanting a 458. No interest in Africa but it could easily get some moose and grizzly usage. Now I need to find one! I like the look of the CZ kevlar models but have never handled one.

Duck,
PLEASE research bullet pricing before deciding .. the cheapest bigbore to feed is the .458 ... you can load from 250 to 600gr in a jacketed or monometal bullet ... don't sell yourself short... if you can shoot a 12ga, you can shoot a 375 .. and if you reload, a 458 lott is paradise .. unless you have a 458 AccRel

Why are there so many 458 bullets? Are some of the same ones used in handgun loads? Probably a dumb question but i had to ask.

sure .. 45/70, 45/90, 45/120, 450 nitro, 450 NE#2, 450 marlin, 458 american, 458 win, 458 lott, 458 watts, 458 Accrel, 458 Ackely, 450 rigby, 460 dakota, 460 weatherby, and then the exotics ...

375 hh, 375 flanged, 375 weatherby. was all the real 375's out there for 80 years ... then 375 winchester, 376 steyr,

quote:

Originally posted by GrayDuck:
Why are there so many 458 bullets? Are some of the same ones used in handgun loads? Probably a dumb question but i had to ask.

The 458 works from the 45 long Colt to the 460 Weatherby (and beyond)here's a bit of a pre-made search for ya: ( http://www.midwayusa.com/brows...52***19785***9016*** )
Pages of bullets. I honestly don't think there is another caliber, including .30, with such a choice.

That's why!

416 rem seems to be easy to load at least for me, maybe easiest of all calibers ive tried.
necks are thin only get 2 or 3 reloads before neck splits

to clarify .. only historic 45colt MIGHT be other than .452 .. how about 458 socom to 460 weatherby

My bad... Thanks for the correction.
(Damn that 0.006")

no worries .. i want to do a 458 LC .. but it aint worthwhile in terms of results

416 Rem and RL 15!

I have to second Dr. Lou. My .416 Rem Mag is the easiest rifle I have ever loaded for. Just get a keg of RL-15 and you are in business.

My 416 Rigby is very easy to crimp. I bought a factory crimp die for it from Lee. All they needed was a dummy cartridge and $75.00. Three weeks turn around. Like my colleague above, I was unable to get a decent crimp with the crimp ring built into the seater die.

The 416 Rem Mag has less recoil than the Rigby.

The 400 grain .416 diameter bullet is very balanced, and quite inclined to penetrate. For practice, Speer makes the 350 grain Mag Tip bullet. The Mag tip over 40 grains of 5744 (by Accurate Powders) is a mild and fun load.

I do believe that the 416 Rem Mag is closer to being the mythical "all around" rifle than the 375 Holland & Holland.

Try to shoot rifles of these various calibers.

The 375 is a very nice mid-weight, and the various 458s are designed to stove in elephant skulls. The 416s can (and do) do it all.

LD